The White House warns of the rise of the Wagner Group in Ukraine

Posted in: 12/23/2022 – 10:48

On Thursday, December 22nd, the White House issued a serious warning to the upside From the Russian Wagner Paramilitary GroupAccording to its “rival” from the Russian regular army in Ukraine, which is now receiving armament from North Korea.

“North Korea provided the first shipment to Wagner, which paid for this equipment. Last month, Russia delivered missiles and guided missiles to Wagner,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States.

He said in an interview with reporters that the United States believed that Pyongyang “is considering providing more equipment.” “This is a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The fact that President Putin is asking North Korea for help shows that Russia is alone and desperate,” said the head of state, British diplomat James Cleverly.

The White House spokesman also estimated that Wagner is presently It has 50,000 soldiers deployed in Ukraine – 10,000 mercenaries and 40,000 recruits from Russian prisons. And that the organization was spending $100 million a month on its operations in the country.

John Kirby indicated that Washington, which has already imposed sanctions on this organization of mercenaries present in several arenas of conflict in the world, will take additional measures “in the coming weeks.”

The Russian army relies on Wagner.

The paramilitary group is active in Syria, Libya, Sudan and the Central African Republic. He was accused of participating in abuses in several places.

“It is clear to us that Wagner is on its way to becoming a rival force to the regular Russian army and other Russian ministries,” the spokesman said, stressing that the influence of the group’s leader in the Kremlin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was only “increasing.” .

John Kirby elaborated, “For months, the Russian military relied on Wagner to lead the fighting in certain areas of Donbass (eastern Ukraine) and in some cases, Russian officers actually obeyed Wagner’s orders.” He asserted that Wagner’s forces were “poorly equipped and trained” and had suffered “heavy losses” on the battlefield.

Thus the American spokesman estimated that Wagner had recently lost 1,000 men in the Ukraine. Evgeny Prigogne, who “has no concern for human life,” said John Kirby, “sends Russian men to massacre in Bakhmut,” a frontline town where the fighting is taking place.

“He seems to be much more interested in his influence in the Kremlin than he is in the men he’s recruiting to fight in Ukraine. All he cares about is looking good in front of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” he said — he continues to emphasize.

With Agence France-Presse